Education reporting projects are underway across the USA TODAY Network, uncovering how schools fail our children and finding stories of what works.

One rarely told story in journalism is the one about the individuals and nonprofit organizations who financially support our work. I call them guardian angels.

These supporters know they cannot influence coverage but understand the reach and influence that journalists have to improve lives. Together we win.

I’ve written about our national education coverage initiative, partnering with CBS News. Now we have added a financial supporter to broaden the exposure to our work.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded the USA TODAY Network a grant of nearly $500,000 to bolster coverage of education issues. Funds from the two-year grant will help establish a national education reporting team at USA TODAY to partner with our education writers across the country.

Leading the team is Chrissie Thompson, USA TODAY’s national education editor. The Gates grant allows Thompson to add two reporters, who join a group of seasoned education writers who will chart their own independent course in covering education issues. Thompson and her team already produced a poignant series in which reporters followed 15 teachers to get a sense of their daily lives.

We want education solutions for better decisions

“This investment will allow us to devote two top reporters to the kinds of education stories that make a difference,” Thompson said. “We’ll watchdog schools and systems that are failing our children, excluding some from the promise of an education. We’ll share stories about what’s working so parents can advocate and make decisions for their children.”

The team aims to bring critically important context and understanding to education coverage that will help students, parents, teachers, policymakers and elected leaders make better decisions now, and for future generations.

The ambitious plan not only delves into the daily lives of students and teachers, but is created to also find solutions to ultimately help students from pre-K to post-secondary education.

“With reporters at the local level working with the enhanced national team made possible by the Gates Foundation grant, our reporting will provide an extensive view of the state of education in the U.S,” Randy Lovely, vice president for community news at the USA TODAY Network, said in a news release.

We have many “angels” like the Gates across the nation who support our mission to strengthen communities.

In Florida, the Pensacola News Journal formed a unique partnership with philanthropist Quint Studer to create an immersive project called CivicCon, based on the principle that great cities begin with great dialogue.

“The partnership developed over hours of conversations regarding the state of our community and a shared belief that we could be so much more if stakeholders had access to best practices around the country,” said Executive Editor Lisa Nellessen Savage.

These angels support our work without fanfare

Nellessen Savage said that before the partnership, the News Journal lacked the resources to actively engage with residents to the degree that would move the needle in a transformative way, and that Studer’s nonprofit, the Studer Community Institute, lacked the reach.

“The News Journal helps people understand why it matters and why these lessons can help make our community better,” Studer said.

The partnership hosts monthly public engagements with national experts on what it takes to build strong communities. The events are accompanied by stories, videos, podcasts and roundtable tactical discussions with stakeholders that explore how to improve Pensacola and the lives of residents.

The foundation has invested more than $350,000, with $150,000 planned for 2019. And the results are impressive:

►Studer also committed $190,000 to bring in world renowned urban planners to work with residents to create a blueprint for how the best ideas can be put into action specifically in Pensacola.

►Active, engaged citizens led the fight to stop a controversial government fish hatchery that environmentalists argued would have destroyed the future of the downtown waterfront.

►Those same residents rallied the city to restore the beachfront property, opening the beach to kayaking, paddle boarding and other activities.

And these are just two examples of philanthropic efforts to support our journalism. Across the USA TODAY Network, families and foundations each year fund training and projects so our reporters can dig deeper, expose wrongdoing, and make our communities better. These angels do it without fanfare, and we are the better for it.

Manny Garcia is the ethics & standards editor of the USA TODAY NETWORK.